Razor
The Legend of Wolvendom - an In-Depth Guide by RazorMains Discord Mods & Theorycrafters
Last updated
The Legend of Wolvendom - an In-Depth Guide by RazorMains Discord Mods & Theorycrafters
Last updated
This guide was written by the RazorMains community. You can find the full document here and their Discord here.
By Razormains Discord Mods & Theorycrafters
Writers: LeafOnTheWind#9931, Ender#1359, arashi#2449
Contributors: Shifu02#7738, Araetha#9163, shdwbld#8103, Wolfen7#5902, William355#3092, jerf#0339, muse#0188, Azzurala#6257, HardgoreAlice#8976, Castguy#3544, AngaFundarge#4044, EggsD#9603
Discord: https://discord.gg/4BzHdAzHGR For the FAQ, please visit this doc
“Some say he is an orphan raised by wolves. Others say he is a wolf spirit in human form. He is most at home in the wild, fighting with claw and thunder. To this day the wolf boy can be found prowling the forest, where he and his wolf pack hunt to survive using nothing more than their animal instincts.”
Razor is a 4 star Main DPS character capable of dealing massive damage over time with his hard-hitting claymore and long-lasting ultimate ability. While he is selfish in that he prefers off-field supports and maximized field time due to the nature of his ult, his consistent damage output is among the best in the game.
But why should I read this guide? Isn’t Razor an easy character to play?
While at a glance his skills may look fairly straightforward, there are a lot of nuances in Razor’s kit. For example, when to tap E or hold E, what rotation to perform in different scenarios, how hitlag interacts with ult, how to maximize energy regen, and perhaps most importantly, how to make the most of other character’s abilities while piloting a selfish DPS. Knowledge and mastery of Razor’s kit and of his interactions with others will enable one to use Razor to his fullest potential at all stages of the game.
In addition, Razor’s optimal playstyle varies at different investment levels. While his ascension stat (Phys DMG bonus) greatly benefits his normal attacks and his Electro element makes him one of the best users of Superconduct, higher talents and constellation levels dramatically increase the potency of his Electro damage output. As a result, a maxed out Razor with sufficient support will become a powerhouse of a hybrid damage dealer with virtually no hard counters.
So what does this guide cover?
This guide will help you make decisions on how to build your Razor, maximize his damage through proper usage of skills, and select the right teammates for every situation. We will mostly discuss Razor as a Physical Carry, as this is by far his most popular and accessible build and allows him to be a solid Main DPS for F2P and low-spenders. For people interested in the potential of a high investment Razor, we also discuss how to maximize his endgame damage with various teamcomp demonstrations. Testing for Hybrid and Electro Razor are still underway and more information will be added whenever appropriate.
Fast attacks in Elemental Burst negates the claymore’s key weaknesses of being slow and allows him to apply massive hitlag, making Burst achieve close to 100% uptime when always hitting enemies (hitlag extends effective duration of Burst)
High energy recharge from passive and skill, allowing him to self-fund his Burst (can even charge Burst out of combat by consuming Electro Sigils with hold E)
Can apply On-Hit Electro in Burst for constant reactions (e.g. Electro-Charged)
Burst does not grant Electro Infusion but adds additional Electro DMG (no hard elemental counters) and grants high Electro RES (80%) making him a good counter to Electro enemies despite same element disadvantage
Burst grants resistance to interruption, Electro-Charged immunity (great against Electro/Hydro slimes) and self-cleanse which is useful against leyline disorders
Can hit certain aerial enemies with Hold E (useful against Oceanid, Eye of the Storm, Ruin Hunters, Pyro/Cryo Regisvine weak points, etc.)
Strong against humanoid enemies prevalent lategame (e.g. Fatui, Electro Cicin and Pyro Agent) due to their -20% Phys RES attribute
Flexible with support elements since damage isn’t reliant on Melt/Vaporize, only Superconduct which can be achieved with one Cryo character
Third passive grants a useful combat buff (20% sprinting stamina reduction)
Claymore can break Geo shields and Hold E is very effective against Cryo shields (semi-effective against other elemental shields)
Burst does not persist through character switches, forcing a selfish Main DPS playstyle and making him generally unsuitable for quickswap teamcomps
Typically requires strong off field supports to improve overall team damage
Reliance on Physical DMG at lower investments making him weak against Ruin Guards and high Phys RES enemies
Electro element has no access to amplifying reactions such as Melt and Vaporize which are available to Pyro, Cryo and Hydro DPSs
Overload (Electro + Pyro) is particularly inconvenient as it causes knockback of smaller enemies, making Pyro supports situationally unsuitable
Is close-ranged and must be near enemies to deal damage at all times
Cannot deal high burst damage without significant investment (esp. if focusing on Phys)
Does not generate particles during Burst with E as part of the selfish DPS design
Most power budget is in his Burst, hence is reliant on high Burst uptime which can be an issue against tanky bosses (without Electro Resonance)
Pre C4, tap E is a general DPS loss compared to AA spam but needs to be used to improve Burst uptime (without Electro Resonance)
Ascension Phase
Level
HP
ATK
DEF
Phys DMG Bonus
0
1
1003
20
63
-
0
20
2577
50
162
-
1
20
3326
65
209
-
1
40
4982
97
313
-
2
40
5514
108
346
7.5%
2
50
6343
124
398
7.5%
3
50
7052
138
443
15.0%
3
60
7881
154
495
15.0%
4
60
8413
164
528
15.0%
4
70
9241
180
580
15.0%
5
70
9883
191
613
22.5%
5
80
10602
207
665
22.5%
6
80
11134
217
699
30.0%
6
90
11962
234
751
30.0%
<b></b>
Talent Level-Up Material
Resistance Books
Common Ascension Material
Hilichurl Masks
Weekly Boss Material
Dvalin’s Claw
Razor swings his claymore in a right slash, uppercut, and left slash, before slamming it on the ground. The 4th hit triggers knockback, so chaining only the first three prevents launching enemies. His charged attack is a continuous spinning attack that limits his movement and ends with a final swing that deals more damage and knockback.
3 hit vs 4 hit (normal) - With dash cancelling, Razor’s 3 hit combo does more DPS than his 4 hit combo and prevents knockback.
3 hit vs 4 hit (with Q) - Razor does more DPS with the 4 hit combo, again using dash to cancel the recovery period.
E (tap): Razor lunges forward and slams down with a large claw that deals AoE Electro damage. On hit, generates 3 particles and grants Razor an Electro Sigil (up to a max of 3), which increases Razor's ER by an additive 20% per Sigil. Each Sigil has a duration of 18 seconds, which refreshes whenever E is tapped. 6 second cooldown.
E (hold): After a small delay, Razor slams his hand down, dealing Electro damage in a wide circle around him and absorbing any active Sigils for 5 energy each. On hit, generates 4 particles. 10 second cooldown.
E (tap) vs E (hold): Tap is better for DPS post-C4, for cancelling 4th normal attack as well as gaining Sigils to increase energy recharge, while hold is better against groups and for quick energy gain by consuming Sigils once it’s stacked. More explanation about tap E vs. hold E can be found in the mechanics section.
Note: Physical Razor maximizes DPS by only using E for recharging his Burst, as it lowers the overall DPS of his Normal Attack combos.
Razor summons his trusty soul companion The Wolf Within, dealing AoE Electro damage upon cast and absorbing all active Sigils for 5 energy each. For its 15s duration, The Wolf Within increases Razor’s AA speed by 26%-40% and deals Electro damage alongside each attack, based on a percentage of the scaling on each of Razor’s normal attacks. Razor also gains 80% Electro RES bonus, immunity against Electro-Charged, and resistance to interruption, but cannot use his charged attack. 20s cooldown, 80 energy cost.
During Burst, Razor’s hold E does not cause a minor self-knockback unlike out of Burst.
Swapping out of Razor’s Burst refunds a portion of energy based on the remaining duration, up to 10 energy max.
Soul companion bonus Electro damage is not affected by Gladiators, Martial Artist, and Superconduct. It is affected by ATK% and Electro DMG%.
Razor’s Burst does not count as Electro infusion, meaning Razor fully benefits from his physical damage modifiers while gaining easy access to reactions during his ult alongside supports such as Xingqiu (Electro-Charged) or Kaeya (Superconduct).
Reduces the cooldown of Razor’s E by 18%. Additionally, triggering Razor’s Burst now resets the cooldown of his E.
Effectively renders the cooldown of tap E to 4.92s and hold E to 8.2s.
A very useful passive as it allows Razor to generate particles quickly to fuel his burst. In addition, if C4 is unlocked, a E (tap) > Q > E (hold) reset will shred the enemy’s defense making hold E do more damage.
Razor now has an additional 30% ER when under 50% Energy.
Allows Razor to get his Burst up quicker when coupled with his Sigil generation. Despite Razor’s Burst disabling his skill particle generation, he will gain additional ER from external sources (e.g. enemy threshold particles, support skill particles). It is also possible to stack 3 Sigils with Razor’s tap E during Razor’s Burst and after exiting Burst, hold E to consume all Sigils to quickly regain 15 energy.
Stamina consumption while sprinting is decreased by 20% partywide, non-stackable.
Razor has the luxury of being one of the only characters with a useful combat passive. Less stamina consumption is particularly useful against domains with the condensed ice debuff, such as Forsaken Rift.
****
E (Tap)
2U
E (Hold)
2U
Q (Ult)
2U (Initial Burst DMG) 1U (On-Hit Electro)
Explanation on Gauge Element Theory by KQM Theorycrafting Library
More info on various character gauges can be found here.
Razor’s skill applies 2U, meaning it has a 12.0s duration and decays at 1U per 6.0s. This means that you can trigger 2 reactions with the Electro aura from Razor’s skill as long as you cast two more skills within 6s, with the first skill being 1U (so Razor’s 2U Electro aura can persist).
Scenario 1: Razor E (2U) > Kaeya E (2U) > Xingqiu E (1U initial skill dmg)
Kaeya’s skill will consume all of Razor’s gauge as they are both 2U, leaving no Electro to react with Xingqiu’s Hydro. This combo results in only Superconduct (the Frozen enemy in the vid was a result of Xingqiu’s rain sword, not his E damage).
Scenario 2: Razor E (2U) > Xingqiu E (1U initial skill dmg) > Kaeya E (2U)
Xingqiu’s skill will only consume 1U of Razor’s gauge, leaving Electro to react with Kaeya’s Cryo. This combo results in Electro-Charged, Superconduct and Frozen.
We can see from this case that using Xingqiu before Kaeya is much better than the reverse, as it allows you to trigger more reactions and effectively increase your Superconduct uptime before you enter Razor’s Burst.
This means that when deciding on an optimal rotation, it may be important to check the gauges of character skills to determine which skills to use first, alongside other factors. For example, in the aforementioned scenario, using Xingqiu before Kaeya is also good for other reasons. Xingqiu’s skill has a longer cooldown than Kaeya’s, and Xingqiu’s Burst also lasts longer than Kaeya’s, meaning you should be using Kaeya right before switching to Razor. As Electro reactions are transformative not amplifying, there is less of a need to worry about weak or strong auras (more important in determining Melt/Vaporize gauges).
Standard order: Auto Attack (AA) > Q > E
As a main DPS, Razor should first level his AA, which yields the majority of his DPS. Levelling his AA will also increase the scaling damage of his Q, hence having the highest priority. In terms of total DPS, levelling Q will outdamage E in terms of relative damage comparisons with E vs Q during Q. Levelling the two talents mostly comes down to playstyle preference after level 6 talents, whether you want to see bigger Electro damage or you want to deal more consistent DPS overall.
****
C0 - Razor is perfectly passable as a main DPS at C0, and doesn’t need anything past this to function at a decent power level endgame.
☆C1 - Every time Razor picks up an Elemental Orb or Particle, his damage increases by 10% for 8 seconds. This is a decent DPS upgrade, but very useful to have and applies in every fight since Razor will be on the field often enough to pick up orbs consistently.
C2 - Razor’s Crit Rate increases by 10% against enemies with less than 30% HP. This is not as useful for basic mobs, but fairly useful for longer boss fights in the abyss and tankier overworld enemies.
C3 - Razor’s Burst increases by 3 levels.
☆C4 - Razor’s tap E now decreases the opponent’s DEF by 15% for 7 seconds. This is a fantastic constellation that increases Razor’s DPS by approx. 8% with 100% uptime as long as tap E is used often. It stands as Razor’s best DPS constellation.
C5 - Razor’s Skill increases by 3 levels.
C6 - Every 10 seconds, Razor’s sword is charged with Electro, dealing 100% ATK as Electro damage on your next Normal Attack (does not convert normal attack damage to Electro). This also creates a Sigil for Razor’s E if he is not mid-Burst. While this increases Razor’s energy regen, Electro application and potential damage output, it is not optimal for physical Razor and represents a very small increase in DPS (~2%).
Razor has a huge animation lag after 4hit, so jump cancel (JC) or dash cancel (DC) is necessary. JC is slower than DC, but DC carries a stamina cost. If you find yourself in low stamina situations, such as an Abyss floor effect, JC can be a safer option than using more stamina. It is important for you to DC between Razors combos to avoid the significant lag after his normal string and skill cast.
For example in Razor’s rotations such as: E > Q > AAAA > AAAA > E > AAAA > AAAA > E > AAAA > AA
Each E (excluding the first) requires you DC/JC out of it to improve Razor’s DPS
Each AAAA rotation (after 4th hit) requires you DC/JC out of it to improve Razor’s DPS
An example of a perfect DC rotation
Overall, a 3 hit dash cancel combo is Razor’s optimal combo out of Burst, while a 4 hit dash cancel is optimal within Burst. This is due to his increased attack speed in Burst causing a decreased animation time between the 3rd and 4th hit, which makes landing the 4th hit better.
This is true in general, but whether to 3 hit or 4 hit often depends on the situation and the type of enemy you are fighting. The knockback of the fourth hit will send lighter enemies flying, so you may choose to simply dash cancel after the third hit. An enemy’s health may be low after your third hit, so you may choose to finish them off with the fourth. While there is an optimal choice in theory, the situation you are in is often more important.
Razor 3 hit vs. 4 hit frame data as discovered by shdwbld#8103
Ignoring the knockback on enemies, 4 hit is superior to 3 hit in Burst by a small margin. 4 hit also has a lot of practical applications. For example, the 4th hit staggers heavier enemies (e.g.Fatui) which prevents shielding up and in addition to that, uses less stamina allowing for more room to dash cancel later. Outside of Burst, 3 hit is more optimal for overall DPS due to the long animation time of the fourth hit.
It is recommended to DC or JC out of E (tap and hold) due to their long recovery period.
Whether to tap E or hold E on Razor largely depends on the situation.
For C0 Razor, use tap E if you have no Fischl to maximize burst uptime (Electro Resonance).
The difference between tap E and hold E is marginal if you have Fischl, so use whichever you prefer.
Assuming you use Fischl: within the burst period of Razor, holding E has more DPS than tap E (Shorter period of time).
Holding E is generally not advised without Fischl, unless an AoE scenario is presented
As this extends to longer periods within the fight, Tap E wins for overall DPS due to the shorter cooldown
Evidence for Hold E being better for shorter period of time (sheet shows that Hold E is better within the Burst duration) presented by shdwbld#8103
It is also important to note that Razor is knocked back after casting hold E, making dash cancelling much more important following the hold E. This is less important in Q as Razor remains in the same position but it would still be optimal to cancel the full animation of hold E.
For C4+ Razor: tap E is better due to the 15% DEF shred that lasts 7s.
Even more beneficial if you have an off field support like Fischl/Xingqiu since C4 will boost their damage
Other scenarios:
For executing enemies: hold E is better for burst damage.
For gaining energy: higher number of Sigils gives more incentive to use hold E to consume Sigils for 5 energy each.
For breaking shields: hold E is exceptionally strong against Geo/Cryo shields as it counts as a heavy Electro attack. Hold E > Q > Hold E will destroy a Cryo abyss mage’s shield.
Against groups of enemies: the more enemies you can hit with a hold E, the more valuable it becomes over tap E. With C4+ Razor, you could tap E > Q > hold E to shred enemies’ DEF before nuking them with a hold E reset.
General tips to maximize Razor’s energy generation:
Swap out of Razor as soon as enemies are dead to let Burst refund energy (after picking up particles from dead enemies)
Use tap E before support skills to boost energy recharge from supports
Stack Sigils before using hold E/Burst to gain flat energy from consuming Sigils
Stack Sigils during Burst as each Sigil grants 20% ER from outside sources and consume Sigils with hold E after Burst for up to 15 flat energy
C6 Razor can AA > tap E for 2 quick Sigils out of Burst
Use Fischl (increases overall DPS as you get access to Hold E damage) while maintaining high ult uptime with Electro Resonance
Tap E > Q > tap E gives the most energy at the beginning of your Burst rotation (first E boosts ER and particles go into energy gauge, second E boosts ER again), and given you complete the full rotation within the duration of Razor’s ult, you will get three Sigils.
Translated from CN Razor Guide assuming 100% ER Razor:
When energy is below 50%, tap E is a no-brainer (due to A4 and Sigil ER bonus). When above 50% energy, whether you should tap or hold E depends on the number of Sigils. The % value requirements will decrease when you have more ER%.
3 Sigils (60% bonus ER)
2 Sigils (40% bonus ER)
1 Sigil (20% bonus ER)
Tap E
82%
82%
84.25%
Hold E
70%
76.25%
82.5%
Note that the values for 3 Sigils and 2 Sigils tap E is the same because the Sigil is obtained before energy particles reach Razor, meaning 2 Sigil Razor + tap E effectively has 60% ER.
After reaching 3 Sigils, it is always better to hold E or use Burst as any additional tap Es will not generate more effective energy recharge. However, keep in mind that using hold E when Burst is unavailable is risky with C4+ Razor. Without Burst reset, you would lose the C4 debuff from a tap E before your E comes off cooldown again due to hold E’s cooldown being 8.2s and C4 debuff only lasting 7s.
To maximise ult uptime (assuming ult is up) tap E > Q > tap E (first E’s particles go into energy storage, Burst consumes the Sigil for 5 energy and second E grants another Sigil)
After finishing Razor’s burst, it usually has a 1-3 second cooldown despite a 15s duration and a 20s cooldown, why is that? This is a phenomenon called hitlag.
Hitlag allows Razor’s Burst to theoretically achieve 100% uptime as long as Razor continues to hit enemies for the duration of his Burst. This is because during hitlag, the remaining duration of Razor’s Burst is ‘paused’ while the lag occurs. The more hitlags you cause and the bigger the hitlag (e.g. hitting a ruin guard), the longer your Burst uptime could be. See this reddit post for more elaboration.
Shdwbld’s demonstration of Razor’s Burst hitlag: https://youtu.be/t86Ac4t3Zhg
Hitlag can also extend the duration of buffs & debuffs, e.g. Superconduct, Razor C1/ C4
Razor’s Burst also offers a handy benefit in the form of self-cleanse, since it imbues Razor with Electro which can react away leyline disorder elements. The applied Electro element also causes interesting interactions with the environment and his supports:
Overloads himself and nearby enemies on Pyro application, e.g. Bennett Q, Xinyan E (does not take damage) as discovered by Shifu02#7738
Superconducts himself and nearby enemies on Cryo application, e.g. Diona E (takes damage) as discovered by Araetha#9163
Does not Electro-Charge himself due to self Electro-Charged immunity in Burst
Base Attack: 46 ATK: 10.8%
Passive: Increases ATK by 20%. On hit, attacks against enemies with less than 30% HP increase all party members' ATK by 40% for 12s. Can only occur once every 30s.
Wolf’s Gravestone is currently Razor’s best weapon. It carries the second best base attack, a handy ATK% boost, and its effect has both a passive and active buff that stacks even further onto ATK%. As a side note, the active ability has great synergy with Razor’s C2 (10% extra crit when enemies are below 30%), and it also buffs the whole team’s ATK% by a hefty 40%, making it the best weapon for team damage.
Base Attack: 46 ATK: 10.8%
Increases Shield Strength by 20%. Scoring hits on opponents increases ATK by 4% for 8s. Max 5 stacks. Can only occur once every 0.3s. While protected by a shield, this ATK increase effect is increased by 100%.
The Unforged has the same Base Attack and substat scaling as Wolf’s Gravestone, and synergizes much better with shield supports than Gravestone. A 5 stack of bonuses with a shield holds the same increase as the Gravestone, with the potential for even longer duration depending on the shield duration. Its less consistent bonus means that it’s placed below Gravestone, but can certainly be optimized for proper damage output.
Base ATK: 42 Crit Rate: 6%
Every 4s a character is on the field, they will deal 6% more DMG and take 3% more DMG. This effect has a maximum of 5 stacks and will not be reset if the character leaves the field, but will be reduced by 1 stack when the character takes DMG.
Serpent Spine is the current best 4* for Razor (even comparable to 5* weapons), with a rare CRIT% substat and a heavy bonus to damage in its effect. In total, you can get a 30% increase in damage that stays constant through rotations. It makes Razor less tanky and makes getting hit dangerous for your overall DPS, but with good shielding/healing and dodging this is more than compensated for as it pairs nicely with his mixed damage output.
Base Attack: 48 Energy Recharge: 8%
Increases all DMG by 8%. After using an Elemental Burst, Normal or Charged Attack, on hit, creates a vacuum blade that does 80% of ATK as DMG to enemies along its path. Lasts for 20s or 8 vacuum blades.
Skyward Pride boasts a larger Base Attack than the Gravestone, as well as a flat damage buff and AoE damage boosts to DPS when Razor is in Burst. The energy recharge substat amplifies Razor’s already spectacular energy gain. The blades can crit and deals physical damage, meaning they scale with Physical DMG% and benefit from Superconduct (but isn’t affected by 4pc Gladiator bonus). Note that even with the blades scaling from Phys DMG%, 4pc Gladiators is still the best option as your normal attacks account for a much larger % of your damage.
Base ATK: 44 ATK: 6%
On hit, Normal or Charged Attacks have 50% chance to deal additional 240% ATK DMG to enemies within a small AoE. Can only occur once every 15s.
Archaic is currently the best F2P option, with solid base stats as well as good burst damage. The proc can crit and deals physical damage, meaning they scale with Physical DMG% and benefit from Superconduct.
Base ATK: 44 Physical DMG: 7.5%
Hitting an opponent with Normal and Charged Attacks has a 60% chance of forming and dropping an Everfrost Icicle above them, dealing 80% AoE ATK DMG. Opponents affected by Cryo are dealt 200% ATK DMG. Can only occur once every 10s.
Snow-Tombed Starsilver gives Razor additional physical Damage scaling, and has a decent effect that can crit and scales with Physical DMG% meaning it benefits from Superconduct. The drawback of its effect for Razor is that the icicle can miss due to Razor’s claymore knockback, as well as Razor’s electro application which creates an unlikely scenario where the icicle hits an enemy affected by Cryo. This sword is better than Archaic in a vacuum by a small margin (assuming perfect conditions), but for normal gameplay, Archaic > Starsilver.
Base ATK: 39 Physical DMG: 9.6%
On hit, Normal or Charged Attacks increase ATK by 6% for 6s. Max 4 stacks. Can occur once every 0.5s.
Skyrider Greatsword is Razor’s best 3* weapon, with a physical DMG% substat and a solid DPS-boosting effect.
Generally speaking (not accounting for artifacts), Wolf’s Gravestone (WGS) > The Unforged (100% shield uptime) > Serpent Spine (SS) > Skyward Pride (SP) > Lithic Blade > Archaic = Blackcliff = Royal > Snow-Tombed Starsilver > Skyrider Greatsword. Weapons that grant Crit Rate or Crit Damage substat have the benefit of allowing for more lenient artifact optimization.
Blackcliff with stacks can outdamage Archaic due to the combination of ATK% passive and CDMG substat, but it is hard to stack since it requires constantly killing enemies. Royal is great at low crit but still decent with higher crit due to Razor’s fast attack speed in Burst.
Generally speaking:
The lower your Crit Rate is, the more valuable Royal Greatsword is.
The higher your Crit Rate is, the more valuable Blackcliff Slasher is.
If your Crit Rate/Crit Dmg ratio is balanced (1:2), Archaic is a better option.
Both have the potential to outdamage Archaic depending on substat distribution, but since their passives are less consistent than Archaic, it is usually not recommended for players to spend Starglitter purchasing these weapons.
I heard Skyward Pride was BiS, so why is Wolf’s Gravestone rated higher?
Skyward Pride is indeed very strong. However, despite the fact that SP has a very high base ATK and a powerful passive, WGS is usually still the superior option due to it being an extreme ATK% statstick (+70% ATK at lvl 90 unbuffed) that can also boost team damage (40% ATK for 12s), which is far more important endgame with Sub-DPSs that can supplement Razor’s damage.
In addition, WGS’s bonus attack passive boosts Razor’s Electro damage from E and Q fairly significantly. WGS passive does require enemies to be less than 30% hp for the passive to trigger which makes it slightly worse against tanky bosses, but the sheer ATK% one receives from the weapon more than compensates for it.
On the flip-side, SP is lackluster against single enemies but becomes incredibly potent against multiple enemies. In fact, when the blades hit 1 more enemy than your auto attack does, SP will outdamage WGS (no buff). See Shifu02#7738’s analysis
Nevertheless, the ER substat on SP is mostly wasted on Razor because of his naturally high energy gain from Sigils and A4 (esp. alongside batteries such as Fischl).
For R1 SP, the blades amount to 640% ATK over 8 blades or 20s. Since Razor’s Burst cooldown is 20 seconds, the effective ATK increase from SP is merely 32% over 20s. Keep in mind that with Razor’s fast attack speed, the 8 blades would normally be exhausted within the first 5 seconds of his Burst, leaving him with no boost for the rest of its duration. This presents an alternative where SP Razor can opt to go a pseudo Burst support role where you use his Burst, exhaust the 8 blades then swap to a different carry, but this is more gimmicky compared to Physical Main DPS or Electro Enabler builds especially given the 20s downtime of his Burst.
Essentially, SP’s blades and the passive 8% bonus to all damage is not enough to compete with even unbuffed WGS’s 70% innate ATK%. Since the requirements for SP to be better than WGS is very rare and hard to achieve (high number of enemies hit every blade, only AAs no skills), WGS is often the superior lategame choice, especially accounting for overall team damage. Also note that WGS giving so much free ATK% allows you to stack crit and crit dmg much easier without gimping overall damage.
Why is Serpent Spine better than Prototype Archaic?
Although true that the Archaic proc is indeed strong, it does not make up for the fact that Spine provides multiple things to put such a large gap between the two weapons. First, Spine gives CRIT substat. The extra crit itself allows larger flexibility in builds allowing the player to invest into a CDMG Circlet. In addition to that, Spine provides a lot of DMG% for Razor, which he gains the most effectiveness from as compared to other claymore users as it provides both phys and Electro DMG%, making Razor more so a hybrid carry rather than just a physical carry.
What about Snow-Tombed Starsilver vs. Prototype Archaic?
Snow-Tombed is serviceable on Razor, but it has many issues that restrict its performance such as the icicle’s ability to miss, needing a constant source of Cryo, and diminishing returns of stacking too many physical damage bonuses. Considering the cost of it using up prototypes for higher refinements, we do not recommend it when Archaic is a safer option that can be readily transferred to other claymore users.
Why is Serpent Spine such a good weapon? I’m not allowed to get hit!
Serpent Spine (SS) is currently one of the strongest 4* weapons in the game standing out above certain 5* weapons, craftables, weapons purchasable from the shop and the other BP weapons. At first glance, SS provides a ‘double-edged sword’ type of passive which may get people to interpret the weapon as being ‘bad’ especially in abyss where you are likely to take damage.
However, losing stacks with SS is actually quite difficult to do, unless you get hit a lot (i.e standing in burning grass for 5 seconds). Being able to manage the stacks allows you to get a high risk high reward playstyle. If you are afraid of losing the stacks, you may want to invest into potential shield characters that have great synergy with Razor such as Zhongli or Diona which prevent stacks from being lost.
Stacking SS is not an issue since you can keep Razor in slot 1 for abyss and wait for the full stacks to generate out of combat. If you are able to keep up 5/5 SS stacks at R1, it can compete with an R1 WGS (no buff), making it easily one of the strongest weapons in the game. At R5 (ATK% cup), it is actually very close to competing with R1 WGS (Phys% cup) since it has more consistent uptime on its passive. SS R5 is also potentially a lot cheaper while providing the player more build flexibility unlike other 5* claymores which grant only ATK% (WGS/Unforged).
SS for Razor specifically is a lot better than it is for other claymore users due to being a split damage type, which gives Razor the ability to be a flexible physical or hybrid carry. Furthermore, with more constellations and talent levels in E and Q, SS becomes increasingly potent, even making Razor prefer an ATK% cup over a Phys% cup as the general phys:electro ratio is shifted. SS boosts both Physical and Electro damage since it increases total DMG%, so an ATK% cup will complement that further, assuming your team doesn’t grant excess ATK from sources such as Pyro Resonance + 4pc Noblesse/Bennett.
Demonstrations of certain scenarios involving Serpent Spine stacks
Significance: There is an ICD to stack loss, so you aren’t likely to lose multiple stacks in a row over the ‘expected’ duration as multiple simultaneous attacks only trigger 1 lost stack.
Significance: Continuous/prolonged attacks (e.g. being bulldozed by a rock shield mitachurl) only trigger 1 lost stack, meaning it is much easier to keep stacks up in practice.
Significance: using characters like Zhongli or Diona heavily improve SS’s potential.
Note: SS also makes shields take more damage, so you may want to invest more into the shield’s scaling. Damage reduction like Xingqiu’s rain swords can also counteract SS’s passive and strengthen the shield further.
On paper, Lithic Blade seems incredible at higher refinements due to its stacking ATK% and CRIT% passive. However as a Mondstadt character, Razor is unable to make use of Lithic Blade’s passive to its full potential as it requires 4 Liyue characters in a party. Indeed, preliminary testing shows that Lithic Blade on Razor (3 Liyue supports) is still weaker than Serpent Spine.
Weapon comparisons above are meant to give a general outline of how strong these weapons are relative to each other given that the artifacts stats are the same. To truly find which weapon is best for your artifacts, please use the weapon comparison sheets created by Araetha#9163.
For physical build, Razor’s priorities for main stats are a Phys DMG% Goblet, ATK% Hourglass, and CRIT/CDMG Helmet. Phys DMG% is so rare but important on your goblet that it is usually worth it to make the Goblet your non-set piece and even use a 4* artifact in order to have it.
Percent attack bonuses are additive with other bonuses of the same kind, e.g. different ATK% bonuses on artifacts and weapons. However, they are multiplicative with other bonuses, so a DMG% value will multiply with an ATK% value. Razor can only get DMG% from set bonuses and Goblet main stats aside from his ascension stat, but ATK% generally is more common and plentiful, usually meaning Razor has less DMG% than ATK%.
The key here is to build whichever is less, as percent bonuses have diminishing returns as you add more onto them. For example, with stats of 50% ATK and 50% DMG, an increase to either stat will have an equal effect. However, with stats of 75% ATK and 50% DMG, an increase to DMG% will be more valuable. For CRIT:CDMG ratio, the key is to keep the ratio at 1:2. This gives the most optimal DPS.
2pc: 18% ATK 4pc: 35% Normal ATK DMG
4pc Gladiator sets are the most optimal for Razor. The 2pc grants a basic attack bonus, while the 4pc grants a huge boost to the physical portion of your auto attacks. This type of normal attack modifier is incredibly hard to come by and as such very valuable to Razor. However, obtaining a fully optimal or even good set of main stats or substats on 4 pieces of Gladiator is incredibly difficult, as the only way to get pieces is to beat bosses for 40/60 Resin per try.
Note: it is highly inadvisable to actively farm for Gladiator pieces due to their drop rate being as low as it is. You should only use the Gladiator pieces you get naturally and not plan around farming them out (unless perhaps AR55+ with guaranteed gold drop on world bosses).
2pc Glad: 18% ATK 2pc BC: 25% Physical DMG
This mixture of Gladiator and BC is your best bet to actually farm, assuming you can get 2 half-decent Gladiator pieces. With Bloodstained Chivalry being obtained from a domain, it is much easier to grind out good stats and substats, meaning this set actually beats out 4pc Gladiator if you have better stats on your BC pieces.
2pc: 35% Shield Strength 4pc: 40% Normal and Charged Attack DMG when shielded
The full Bolide set is a niche setup that can be incredibly potent on Razor, even rivaling 4pc Gladiators’ damage output under perfect conditions such as 100% shield uptime (Zhongli), Geo Resonance, and when equipped with The Unforged/Wolf’s Gravestone (due to diminishing returns of ATK% stacking from 2pc Gladiators and Unforged/WGS).
2pc: 40% Electro RES 4pc: 35% DMG boost to Electro-afflicted enemies
Thundersoother is an off-meta set, but provided you can keep your Electro uptime maximized on enemies, this set can deal a solid amount of damage due to the raw damage boost on Electro-affected enemies. Regardless, the prior options are still generally safer to grind due to the inconsistency of keeping Electro status on enemies, as reactions may cause interference. As a side note, 4pc Thundersoother actually has the highest theoretical DPS out of every set, but is held back due to it requiring 100% Electro uptime at all times.
2pc Berserker: 12% Crit Rate (4* set only)
2pc Resolution of Sojourner: 18% ATK (4* set only)
2pc Brave Heart: 18% ATK (4* set only)
2pc/4pc Martial Artist: 15% Normal/Charged Atk (2pc), using a skill increases Normal/Charged Atk damage by 25% for 8s
2pc Noblesse/2pc Bloodstained: 20% Elemental Burst DMG, 25% Physical DMG (most resin-effective build as both artifacts come from the same domain, though Noblesse only buffs Razor’s initial Burst damage and soul companion damage)
2pc Thundering Fury/2pc Bloodstained: 15% Electro DMG, 25% Physical DMG
4pc Thundering Fury: 15% Electro DMG, 40% Electro Reaction DMG, CDR on triggering Electro Reaction (needs more testing)
Disclaimer: these rankings do not take into account artifact substats or ease of farming. Rankings may also wildly vary depending on the weapon used (e.g. The Unforged pairs excellently with 4pc Bolide). As a general guideline, we will not be ranking the niche sets alongside the consistent sets (due to their skewed practicality depending on the situation).
4pc Gladiator (BiS)
2pc Gladiator/2pc Bloodstained Chivalry
2pc Thundering Fury/2pc Bloodstained Chivalry
Niche
4pc Thundersoother 100% uptime (Fischl Oz or Razor Burst with minimal reactions)
4pc Bolide 100% uptime (Zhongli)
4pc Bolide 70% uptime (Diona)
So far, limited tests have shown that 4TS Razor can achieve similar (if not higher) levels of DPS as 4Glad Razor provided 100% Electro status uptime on enemy. Below are demonstrations from Wolfen7#5902 showcasing Razor fighting a ruin guard with Superconduct & Zhongli:
4TS Razor
4Glad Razor
In this very specific scenario, 4TS delivered greater Physical numbers (15k > 14k) and Electro numbers (32k > 31k) despite lower ATK% and CDMG% on the tester. However, this scenario heavily favors 4TS as it is relatively easy to keep 100% Electro status on a single target such as the ruin guard in addition to the ruin guard being resistant to 4Glad’s set bonus (due to its innate 70% Physical RES). In most situations, 4Glad would be the far more consistent option, but 4TS may have a higher damage ceiling when its conditions are met perfectly.
Superconduct (SC) is by far the best reaction for a Razor comp as the 40% Phys RES shred will amount to ~23% more damage from Razor’s NA. Therefore, a Cryo character is a good choice in any Razor teamcomp. Fortunately, Cryo (or Zhongli for his universal RES shred) is the only fixed slot and the last two teammates can be flexed depending on the situation or personal preference, but off-field supports are generally favored. Below you will find in-depth descriptions and build info for some of the most common (and usually synergistic) Razor supports based on this poll. This list is non-exhaustive, and build information for other characters can be found in the Helper Team's Character Builds (beware that some info may be outdated) and the more recent but still WIP Character Mains Builds.
Note: The ‘Synergy with Razor’ column is highly tentative and dependent on teamcomp needs, but is meant to highlight how well this unit usually performs with Razor at different constellation levels relative to other characters. Keep in mind that constellations greatly affect most units’ performance with Razor, whether it’s through offering him and/or the team enhanced utility, buffs or pure damage. Role labels are mostly derived from KQM guide’s definitions.
Support
Element
Role
Synergy with Razor
Kaeya
Cryo
SC Enabler, Sub-DPS
A (C0) - S- (C2)
Diona
Cryo
SC Enabler, Shielder, Healer
S (C0) - S+ (C2)
Qiqi
Cryo
Healer, SC Enabler
S- (C0 - C6)
Ganyu
Cryo
Sub-DPS, SC Enabler
A (C0) - S- (C4)
Barbara
Hydro
Healer, Support
B+ (C0) - A (C2)
Xingqiu
Hydro
Sub-DPS, Enabler, Support
S (C0) - S+ (C2)
Fischl
Electro
Sub-DPS, Electro Resonance
A (C0) - S (C6)
Beidou
Electro
Sub-DPS, Electro Resonance
B+ (C0) - A (C6)
Bennett
Pyro
Support, Healer
B+ (C0) - A (C1)
Xiangling
Pyro
Support, Sub-DPS
B (C0) - A- (C4)
Xinyan
Pyro
Support, Shielder
B (C0) - A (C4)
Venti
Anemo
CC, Sub-DPS, Support
B (C0) - A (C2)
Zhongli
Geo
Support, Shielder, CC
S (C0) - S+ (C2)
Albedo
Geo
Sub-DPS, Support, Shielder
A+ (C0) - S (C6)
SC Enabler, Sub-DPS A (C0) - S- (C2)
****
Positives
Kaeya is the most easily accessible Cryo applicator in the game. His Elemental Skill does a blast of Cryo energy in a cone directly in front of him. With a 6-second cooldown, identical to Razor’s own tap cooldown, this means a proper rotation will give you easy 100% SC uptime. His Elemental Burst summons 3 icicles that revolve around your active character for the next 8 seconds. It costs 60 energy and has a cooldown of 15 seconds, which is a relatively inexpensive cost for a spectacular “orbital” Burst for Razor. Since said icicles apply Cryo on hit, this pairs very well with Razor’s Electro-applying Burst. In addition, Kaeya is a great shield-breaker against Electro Fatui (arguably one of Razor’s most annoying opponents) due to his low cooldown skill.
Negatives
Kaeya‘s sole purpose is applying Cryo for Razor, so his slot in Razor’s team is under jeopardy by any Cryo that can do anything else as a multipurpose tool. While he can do good Sub-DPS if invested, he cannot serve any other form of utility within the team besides apply Cryo very quickly, which is often unnecessary due to Superconduct lasting a long duration.
Fortunately, Kaeya at C0 is all that you need for Cryo application. Notably helpful buffs occur at C2 and C6 for his support gameplay, however. C2 extends the duration of Glacial Waltz by 2.5 seconds for every enemy that dies during its uptime, leading to a maximum uptime of 15 seconds. This is now identical to Razor’s Burst uptime, making it an even better Superconduct match. C6 adds an icicle to the previous 3, and gives you 15 energy for free when casting the Burst, meaning a quarter of the energy required to cast is automatically given.
Since Kaeya is used exclusively for his Skill and Burst, energy recharge is your most important stat, hands down. With that, a basic 2pc Exile/2pc Scholar set to buff said ER is typically the way to go for low-investment Kaeyas to make sure you have as much uptime on his Burst as possible. A 4pc Noblesse set is also very useful, provided no one else on the team is using it. Since you typically pair Kaeya and Razor’s Bursts together, Noblesse will trigger just in time for Razor’s Burst to take the field. Alternatively, if you choose to build Kaeya as a Sub-DPS (best lategame option), 2pc Strayer/2pc Noblesse is the option you should opt for.
Furthering the energy recharge theme, Favonius Sword is Kaeya’s best ER option, with a secondary stat of ER and a useful passive that gives Kaeya a chance to gain more energy particles when he crits on his skill or Burst, allowing him to be a better battery for the team. Sacrificial Sword, Festering Desire or Skyrider Sword are your other options that also have a secondary stat of ER, with Sacrificial Sword giving Kaeya quick skill resets and Festering Desire amplifying his respectable skill damage. If you play Kaeya in more of a Sub-DPS role, Lion’s Roar, Cool Steel, and Harbinger of Dawn are good options. **[Back to table**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iXrwYLstfwGA98YXDH7X8MO1F7PMjpKldLmRiRST6Xk/edit#bookmark=id.94lfurglszcd)
SC Enabler, Shielder, Healer S (C0) - S+ (C2)
****
Positives
Diona ticks off every box that a Razor (and most DPSs) could want in a support. As a bow user, she can disable Ruin Guards or Ruin Hunters for the rest of the party. Her Elemental Skill fires off 2 / 5 homing Cryo paws at enemies depending on whether you tap or hold it. They apply Cryo on hit, deal damage, and create a shield on your character that increases in strength depending on how many paws hit. With a 6 / 15 second cooldown, proper rotations give Diona a 100% SC uptime, and a handy shield to tank hits for Razor. Her Elemental Burst tosses out a canister that releases Cryo energy in an area for 12 seconds. Every 2 seconds, enemies take Cryo damage and characters are healed, for a total of 6 ticks. With a 20-second cooldown and 80 energy cost, Diona is able to apply Cryo and heal Razor at the same time, making her a very versatile character for Razor. She can also buff movement speed, reduce stamina consumption, and reduce enemies’ ATK in her Burst (each by 10%), making her an excellent buffer.
Negatives
Diona’s Skill suffers at applying Cryo to multiple enemies, lowering her ability to effectively act as a solo Cryo user for Razor teams. Her Burst has a higher energy cost, meaning to have it up more often, Diona must be built for energy recharge, lowering her healing ability. While she is able to apply Cryo, heal, and shield your team, she is by no means the best at any of them, acting more as a jack of all trades support character for Razor. In addition, Diona does not do much damage since she needs to focus on HP% to boost her shields/heals.
Constellations:
Diona at C0 is sufficient for all three of her standard roles. However, all of her skill-related constellations improve her abilities in said roles. C1 regenerates 15 energy after her Burst ends, reducing the total cost to a more manageable 65 energy. C2 increases the damage of her skill, makes her shield slightly tankier, and spreads a smaller shield to allies in the area for 5 seconds, making her even more useful for co-op. C4 decreases the time for Aimed Shots by 60% when in her Burst’s AoE, allowing her to spread Cryo via Bow outside her circle much easier. C6 increases healing by 30% within her Burst when a character’s health is under 50% and increases their Elemental mastery by 200 when it is over 50%, allowing for more efficient healing and/or stronger reactions.
Artifacts:
Diona’s artifact set can vary depending on what you want to use her for. 4pc Maidens is very good if you focus more on Diona’s healing Burst, while 4pc Noblesse is a mainstay if you want her to buff Razor a little more. A low-budget 2pc Exile/2pc Scholar is also handy to get her 80 energy Burst back quicker for more Cryo application and healing.
Weapons:
Sacrificial Bow works the same as Kaeya’s Sacrificial Sword, giving her more ER and a chance for her Icy Paws to reset its cooldown, which is invaluable for Cryo application and consistent Shield uptime. Favonius Warbow is also useful for her with an ER substat and energy-gaining passive. Whether you pick Favonius or Sacrificial Bow is highly dependant on your playstyle preference and teammates. See this discussion from DionaMains mods AngaFundarge#4044 and EggsD#9603 for more info. Back to table
Healer, SC Enabler S- (C0-C6)
****
Positives
Qiqi acts as a passive healer and Cryo applier, and neatly fills the spots for both on a Razor team. Her Elemental Skill summons a Cryo spirit, which has 4 ticks of healing and damage over its 15 second duration. Said healing also happens if Qiqi is hitting enemies with her Normal and Charged Attacks, allowing for full party regeneration. Her Elemental Burst deals Cryo AoE damage and marks enemies with a Talisman that heals any character that hits said enemy. This means Razor gets much more effective on-field time at high HP, while being able to apply Superconduct and heal at the same time without needing to swap. Qiqi is perhaps one of the best supports to enable Razor’s aggressive playstyle due to her healing ability being largely tied to her skill and not gated by Burst. In domains/abyss floors with the leyline disorder that drains energy (punishing for Burst-reliant healers), Qiqi’s strength becomes more prominent.
Negatives
Qiqi is commonly seen as being subpar to other support units due to her being proficient at only healing, especially when compared to Diona who can heal, shield and buff or even Barbara who can use Thrilling Tales. Qiqi also cannot generate particles and does not have outstanding constellations besides perhaps C4 and C6, and even then, the 20% ATK debuff on enemies and 15-minute team revive is usually unnecessary due to her overpowered healing. In addition, Qiqi has relatively poor Cryo application due to her high skill cooldown and high burst energy cost, although this is somewhat offset by her ability to periodically apply Cryo with her skill off-field which synergizes well with Razor’s Burst.
Constellations:
Qiqi at C0 is more than enough to remain effective for Razor. Her C1 gives her 2 energy for every Talisman-affected enemy that her Skill hits, helping her gain her Burst back faster for additional healing. C4 decreases enemies’ attack damage by 20% if affected by said Talisman, arguably her most valuable constellation. C6 lets her revive any fallen party members back up to 50% HP with her Burst once every 15 minutes, which may be useful for long or intense fights.
Artifacts:
For healing, 4pc Maiden Beloved is typically your go-to set, and it remains the same for Qiqi. As well as this, her healing does scale off of Attack, so 2pc Maiden Beloved/2pc Gladiator’s Finale can also be effective and let Qiqi move into more of a Sub-DPS role.
Weapons:
Qiqi does not require a specific weapon to shine in a Razor comp. Sacrificial Sword is a decent option for Qiqi, as her skill normally has a 30s cooldown. Activating its passive means more Cryo application and on-demand healing, although Razor is fine with just Superconduct. Alternatively, other good options can be Aquila Favonia, Summit Shaper, or The Flute for maximum healing due to their ATK% boosting properties. Cheap options that are available are Fillet Blade, which can be used quite a bit in a quick swap strategy abusing the passive as well as gaining ATK% from the weapon which further benefits her overall healing.
Qiqi is normally not used often in lategame team comps because she doesn’t offer much aside from healing compared to other supports. However, Qiqi can still excel in a Razor comp. This is because Razor is dependent on Superconduct (the debuff) rather than fast Cryo application. Qiqi E makes about ~10 rotations, applying Cryo periodically within the 15s duration. If Qiqi’s skill is activated right before Razor ult, it will tick at the last moments of the 15s duration. Superconduct will be refreshed after the final proc, and it will last another 12s. By the time Superconduct ends, there will only be 2-3s downtime before Qiqi’s E is up again, since her skill’s cooldown is 30s. This downtime can be consumed simply through making a few switches between characters and spamming skills to regenerate energy. As a result, Qiqi does not have as many downsides when played with Razor compared to other DPSs. Nevertheless, due to her underwhelming utility overall, she is still below Diona as Razor’s Cryo healer. **[Back to table**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iXrwYLstfwGA98YXDH7X8MO1F7PMjpKldLmRiRST6Xk/edit#bookmark=id.94lfurglszcd)
Sub-DPS, SC Enabler A (C0) - S- (C4)
****
Positives
Ganyu in a Razor team acts as the off field Sub-DPS that applies Cryo to enemies over a 15s duration from her Burst. Ganyu is in a similar position to Kaeya in Razor teams. In a situation where there are a lot of mobs, she will easily out DPS Kaeya due to the icicle targeting whilst also applying a consistent Cryo to enemies, allowing for consistent Superconduct uptime for Razor while being off field. Furthermore, Ganyu can drop her Lotus taunt which allows Razor to freely attack enemies that surround the Lotus, while also applying Cryo as it explodes, further extending the Superconduct uptime.
Negatives
Ganyu suffers the same problem that Kaeya does on Razor teams: she simply only deals damage and applies Cryo, meaning you need an additional spot for a healer. Furthermore, Ganyu is much better off as a Main DPS, as using her aimshot playstyle is currently the highest damage ceiling as of current content.
Constellations:
The only notable constellation that benefits Razor is C4. However, she is still very usable at C0. At C4, enemies that stand within her burst take increased DMG over time, the longer they remain within her burst. Given that the radius of her burst is quite large, Razor will be moving from enemy to enemy, dealing increased damage overtime while Ganyu also provides consistent Cryo application supplementing the Superconduct uptime.
Artifacts:
As Ganyu Sub-DPS, you want to mainly prioritise the damage on your burst. To give Ganyu the maximum damage for her burst, you would want to build her with 2pc Noblesse/2pc Strayer. On the contrary, she can use 4pc Noblesse to give the whole team an ATK% buff which further increases any off field support and Razor’s overall damage.
Weapons:
Ganyu as Ult bot does not require an Amos bow. Instead she uses weapons that make her Burst damage potential shine. Such examples include Skyward Harp, Stringless, Favonius Bow, Sacrificial Bow and Viridescent Hunt. Ganyu primarily wants to use her burst alongside Razor meaning she wants Harp or Stringless or Viridescent Hunt for maximising her Burst damage and alternatively Favonius or Sacrificial Bow which are good options for recharging her burst. **[Back to table**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iXrwYLstfwGA98YXDH7X8MO1F7PMjpKldLmRiRST6Xk/edit#bookmark=id.94lfurglszcd)
Chongyun’s Elemental Skill creates a field where all melee weapon Normal Attacks are converted from physical to Cryo DMG. This is great for Chongyun to spread Cryo to enemies, but if Razor attacks in this area, his physical hits are converted to Cryo DMG, which is very bad for Razor’s DPS, as his hits would lose out on the physical DMG bonuses from his ascension stat and (potentially) goblet. In addition, Superconduct is also useless inside Chongyun’s ice field, as Razor’s attacks would be Cryo instead of Physical and thus unable to take advantage of the 40% Phys RES down. While Chongyun can work with Razor, it requires a precise rotation and careful positioning to continually use 100% of Razor’s physical DMG potential.
However, If you would still like to use Chongyun on a Razor team, KrushSG has a short clip to explain his thoughts on the topic.
Healer, Support **B (C0) - A- (C2)
****
Positives
Barbara’s skill summons a water loop that revolves around the active character and periodically heals them based on her max hp while applying Hydro to nearby enemies, allowing for easy Electro-Charged applications. The loop also acts as a Pryo cleanse since it applies wet status to self every few seconds. Her skill is great for Razor who likes off-field healing, especially since her A2 also reduces stamina consumption by 12% while her loop is active. In addition, her A4 extends the duration of her loop by up to 5s when the active character gains a particle, which is achievable as long as Razor can kill enemies fast enough to gain particles in his Burst. Her Burst instantly heals the entire party by a large amount, allowing for clutch saves. Being a Hydro catalyst, Barbara can break Pyro shields easily with her autos. Perhaps Barbara’s greatest strength is her incredible synergy with Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers, a 3 star book that grants HP% substat and a passive that can boost Razor’s ATK by 48% for 10s at R5.
Negatives
Since her loop applies Hydro to the active character every couple of seconds, Razor may get frozen if he is hit by Cryo attacks. With the prevalence of Cryo enemies, this can become a frequent occurrence. Furthermore, Barbara has a tough spot to fight for in a Razor team, as she has to compete with the likes of Diona and Qiqi who can fulfill the role of a healer and a Superconduct applicator at the same time.
Constellations:
Barbara’s notable constellations as a healer are C1, C2 and C6. Her C1, while not amazing, still improves her Burst uptime for more consistent heals. Her C2 decreases the cooldown of her skill by 15% and gives the active character 15% Hydro DMG bonus, the latter of which is useless for Razor but reduced skill cooldown is nice regardless. Her C6 is a 15min revive that fully heals the fallen character, which could be useful if Razor gets nuked.
Artifacts:
Barbara’s default healer set is 4pc Maiden Beloved for enhanced healing or perhaps a 2pc Maiden/2pc Exile or Scholar for some healing mixed with more frequent Bursts. 4pc Noblesse is also an option if your Barbara has a lot of energy recharge, especially with C1.
Weapons:
There is almost no competition for Barbara’s BiS support book and that is Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers, due to it synergizing with her healing (HP% substat) and giving her utility in the form of a hefty ATK% boost for Razor. If you really want an alternative, Prototype Amber is serviceable as a team battery and enhanced healing option. Back to table
Sub-DPS, Enabler, Support S (C0) - S+ (C2)
****
Positives
Xingqiu is an extremely strong Hydro unit at the moment that has the benefit of applying Hydro extremely quickly and dealing a lot of damage while his Elemental Burst is active. This ability, although is the main enabler for vaporise reactions, still heavily benefits Razors playstyle which is based off of normal attack spamming. Even though Electrocharged isn’t a very strong reaction, it still provides some CC and good DPS compared to most transformative reactions, making Xingqiu one of Razor's best supports. In addition to this, his Elemental Skill and Burst provide circulating rain swords which can heal and reduce the damage that Razor takes while buffing his resistance to interruption. This is very much appreciated, as Razor prefers to attack in melee range where he is very likely to get hit. Xingqiu also does not mess up Superconduct as Electro charging enemies still allows enemies to be frozen and Superconducted both at the same time if Cryo is applied.
Negatives
Xingqiu’s skill has a very long cooldown (21s) and he is quite lackluster without his Burst as a Sub-DPS. Therefore to make him feel strong, you will need a Sacrificial Sword and/or lots of energy recharge. Xingqiu’s Burst has a 80 energy cost, meaning your team most likely needs another battery to enable good Burst uptime unless your Xingqiu is C6.
Constellations:
Xingqiu constellations allow him to become one of the strongest Sub-DPSs in the game when paired with Razor. While his C1 is the only thing that benefits Razor himself with the additional rain sword, C2 (duration increase and Hydro RES shred) and C6 (increased DPS and ER upon hitting enemies in burst) are both major upgrades that will increase Xingqiu’s DPS, burst duration and energy recharge significantly.
Artifacts:
As a Sub-DPS, Xingqiu greatly appreciates the Heart of Depth set for maximum Hydro DMG bonus, which boosts his damage and damage reduction from his skill. A common Sub-DPS setup is 2c Heart of Depth/2pc Noblesse. If there are no other Noblesse 4pc users on your team, Xingqiu can utilize the 4pc Noblesse set decently as his Burst syncs with Razors, both having approximately 15s duration and 20s cooldown (C0).
Weapons:
Sacrificial Sword is Xingqiu’s best option, as it allows him to somewhat bypass his high skill cooldown and generate more particles while dealing more damage. Other options included can be Skyward Blade, Festering Desire, Favonius Sword and Skyrider Sword. For more information on Xingqiu, please visit the Xingqiu Handbook. Back to table
Sub-DPS, Electro resonance A (C0) - S (C6)
****
Positives
Fischl is a very strong unit that deals a lot of damage alongside Razor and generates a lot of particles for him, making playing Razor feel very comfortable as he can often switch out if the player needs to because the ult downtime is very low. Even though Razor doesn’t normally have issues with ult uptime, Fischl makes it 100% uptime which is extremely good in prolonged fights. In addition, she has an off field skill, which is more accessible to use than Bursts and can do significant DPS when well-invested. C6 Fischl also turns her into a powerhouse that synergizes well with Razor’s quick attacks in Burst. When well built, Fischl provides plenty of damage and energy for Razor while being an excellent battery for the whole team. She also provides extra particles if an Electro reaction is triggered by the on-field character (A4 + Electro resonance).
Negatives
Fischl is pretty squishy, and in general doesn’t really provide anything but battery and damage. Her C6, while doing respectable damage, will not trigger additional reactions with Razor since they are both Electro, making her potentially synergize with other DPSs better (e.g. Childe). If you think you don’t need more off-field damage or ult uptime for Razor, it may not be worth using Fischl other than against tanky bosses.
Constellations:
In general, Fischl’s constellations are fairly straightforward boosts to her damage, such as C2 (initial skill damage and AoE) and C4 (AoE Burst damage). Her constellations do not present a unique benefit to Razor until C6. Her C6 makes each of Razor’s autos do bonus Electro DMG, and since it scales with attack speed, Razor’s specialty as a fast-attacking claymore in Burst allows him to output this extra damage quicker than other claymore DPSs. C6 also increases Oz’s duration, allowing him to generate more energy for the party.
Artifacts:
2pc Gamblers is a great set for Fischl since it boosts elemental skill damage by 20%, greatly increasing Oz’s damage. If using Stringless however, since the weapon has a similar passive, you can run 2pc Gladiators/2pc Thundering Fury on her for full 5* stats. Otherwise, 2pc Gamblers/2pc Thundering Fury is the best choice for Sub-DPS Fischl.
Weapons:
In general, good weapons for Sub-DPS Fischl are Skyward Harp, Amos Bow, The Stringless, Rust, Viridescent Hunt and Prototype Crescent. Skyward Harp is arguably Fischl’s BiS weapon whether it be as a Main DPS or Sub-DPS. The weapon is tailored for Fischl, allowing for build variety as the Harp provides both Crit Rate and Crit Damage while also providing very high Base ATK. Alternatively, The Stringless is arguably Fischl’s BiS Sub-DPS 4* weapon as it boosts Oz’s damage by 24% at R1, which is better than Gambler’s 20%. Prototype Crescent and Rust both grant ATK% substats which is very useful for C6 Fischl as C6 scales from her attack, but they are overshadowed by The Stringless due to their lackluster passives. For more weapon comparisons for Fischl, visit Sub DPS Fischl Guide ver. 2.0. Back to table
Sub-DPS, Electro resonance B+ (C0) - A (C6)
****
Positives
A well-built Beidou is a monster in situations where her Burst can freely bounce between enemies (needs at least 2 targets) to deal AoE damage, and her C2 makes this AoE damage even better by allowing the lightning to occur more frequently. Her Burst also provides a good chunk of survivability in the form of damage reduction, resistance to interruption and a shield (C1). Having Beidou on the team will allow Razor to play more aggressively, provided you can get her Burst and Razor’s Burst up at the same time. Unlike Fischl who excels at single-target damage, Beidou excels at multi-target damage, making her a great addition in abyss floors with multiple enemies.
Negatives
Unfortunately, Beidou has noticeable energy issues even with Electro Resonance, requiring a hefty 80 energy cost to activate her Burst. Most of Beidou’s power budget as a Razor support is locked behind her Burst, and since she cannot swap in freely during Razor’s Burst to counter enemy attacks, you would rarely be able to full counter with her to get the highest damage and energy generation possible. This is exacerbated by the fact that Razor cannot generate energy with his skill during his Burst, making Beidou’s energy issues more apparent. If running Razor as a traditional Main DPS, Beidou’s power would be severely restricted as she tends to prefer quickswap teams that let her use her high damage skill and Burst whenever available.
Constellations:
Beidou’s best constellations on a Razor team is her C1, C2 and C6. C1 gives Razor an Electro shield that scales from 16% of Beidou’s max HP for 15s upon casting her Burst. C2 is the bread and butter of Sub-DPS Beidou, pushing her AoE capabilities through the roof as it allows her Burst’s lightning to jump to 2 additional targets (or bounce between the same targets more times, given there are at least 2). C6 is a nice boost to both Beidou and Razor’s Electro damage output, as Beidou’s Burst will shred enemy’s Electro Res by 15%.
Artifacts:
Any combination of 2pc Noblesse, 2pc Thundering Fury and 2pc Gladiators will work for Sub-DPS Beidou. According to Zanto#4984’s Beidou Guide, 2pc Thundering Fury/2pc Gladiator is best for pre-C2 Beidou, while 2pc Noblesse/2pc Gladiator is is best for post-C2 Beidou. 2pc Thundering Fury/2pc Noblesse works best if your Beidou’s stats are skewed towards ATK% (e.g. ATK% weapon), but generally Beidou prefers ATK% (2Glad) to Electro DMG% (2TF) since her ascension stat grants Electro DMG Bonus and she often faces a low ATK issue from running ER% hourglass, Electro% cup and CRIT/CDMG% circlet.
Weapons:
As a high investment unit, Beidou favors claymores such as Wolf’s Gravestone, Skyward Pride, and Serpent Spine to truly shine as a Sub-DPS. In fact, most of her best weapons coincide with Razor’s best weapons, although she can work with Energy Recharge weapons such as Sacrificial Greatsword and Favonius Greatsword to cushion her high ER requirements on a Razor team. Rainslasher is not recommended due to its EM substat and reliance on Electro application (unless perhaps running triple Electro with Razor and Fischl). **[Back to table**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iXrwYLstfwGA98YXDH7X8MO1F7PMjpKldLmRiRST6Xk/edit#bookmark=id.94lfurglszcd)
Support, Healer B+ (C0) - A (C1)
****
Positives
Bennett fills the same role on Razor teams as he does on any other team as that of one of the best buffers in the entire game. His Elemental Burst creates an 12s AoE effect that heals characters up to 70% and provides any character above 70% HP with an ATK% bonus (C0), making him good against heavy enemies that don’t get knocked back by Overload. Scaling off of Bennett’s base attack, this provides a sizable bonus for all of Razor’s attacks in the circle, costing 60 energy with a 15s cooldown. With Bennett’s ascension stat being ER, Bennett has no issues gaining back his 60 energy and continually providing Razor with an attack bonus as long as he uses an energy recharge sword. Bennett’s Burst also acts as a cleanse, which is very useful against leyline disorders (but less valued since Razor’s ult can already self-cleanse)
Negatives
Bennett’s specific negative with Razor is that he applies Pyro with his skill and Burst, meaning Overload procs are likely to happen. Bennett’s Burst procs Pyro on characters that enter the field, and combining this with Razor’s Burst means that smaller enemies will be continuously knocked out of the circle, wasting the ATK buff as Razor needs to chase after them. In addition, Razor does not need Overload to break Geo shields as a claymore and his hold E breaks Cryo shields fast, so Pyro units are generally unneeded. On the flipside, Bennett is often a better choice for quickswap reaction comps such as Melt and Vaporize teams who allow him to spam his skill frequently to generate energy, so he normally has better synergies with non-selfish DPSs.
Constellations:
Bennett at C0 works just fine, but he benefits heavily from his C1, which adds another 20% to his ult’s buff as well as removes the 70% HP restriction for said attack bonus. His other constellations don’t mesh as well as a Burst spammer for Razor, and his C6 actually makes him into a Pyro Chongyun, converting all Normal/Charged Attacks into Pyro DMG over Physical DMG in his Burst. His C6 generally makes him worse as a support for Razor, so it is not recommended.
Artifacts:
Bennett is one of the best candidates for 4pc Noblesse, as he exists solely to use his Burst in a Razor comp in order to avoid triggering excessive Overloads. The attack buff from Noblesse will last for the entirety of his Burst, and building Bennett for even more ER means you get even more buffs on top of his already nutty Burst. 2pc Exile/2pc Scholar is also a good option for Bennett, helping him get as close as possible to 100% Burst uptime.
Weapons:
Similarly to Kaeya, Favonius Sword furthers Bennett’s Burst uptime with an ER substat and a passive that lets him generate more energy when he crits. Festering Desire is a decent choice on Bennett due to its respectable base ATK and ER, although the passive is largely wasted since you won’t be spamming Bennett’s skill with Razor. Skyrider Sword is also useful with an ER substat, and Fillet Blade can work for quick burst damage. Back to table
Support, Sub-DPS B (C0) - A- (C4)
****
Positives
Xiangling’s skill puts down a Panda that breathes fire periodically, which combined with her ring of fire from her Burst makes her one of the best Cryo shieldbreakers in the game. Her skill and Burst both have fairly long durations (6s and 10s respectively at C0), making her a decent off-field support for Razor. When invested well, she can put out heavy damage with her Burst’s massive AoE and decent scaling, making her an excellent Pyro Sub-DPS for extended boss fights. Xiangling can also buff Razor’s ATK by 10% for 10s with her A4 after the end of her skill duration, which can have high uptime due to the short cd of her skill (12s).
Negatives
As with other Pyro units, Xiangling is prone to causing Overload with Razor especially given her frequent Pyro application. She is also very energy-hungry, and Razor won’t be able to fund her 80 energy cost very well since his skill stops generating energy during his Burst. As such, Xiangling is normally used in a quickswap comp that can grant her enough energy to spam Burst frequently to enable reactions such as Vaporize or Melt.
Constellations:
In a Razor team, C3-C4 Xiangling is where she truly shines, as the extra damage (C3) and 40% duration increase (C4) on her Burst will allow her to do more off-field damage while Razor is locked in his ult. Other constellations are less noteworthy as they generally boost Pyro damage (C1/C6) or Xiangling’s own normal attacks (C2).
Artifacts:
Xiangling prefers the 2pc Noblesse/2pc Crimson Witch as a Razor support to boost her Burst damage and Pyro damage respectively. The 4pc Crimson Witch can also work for Sub-DPS Xiangling, but is generally not recommended in a Razor comp since Overload scales poorly as a transformative reaction. 4pc Noblesse is an option for more team damage assuming no other Noblesse supports, and if lacking energy recharge, one may opt for simply a 2pc Exile/2pc Scholar or either one with 2pc Noblesse.
Weapons:
As an energy-hungry Burst support, Xiangling loves weapons that boost her energy recharge especially in a Razor team. Good ER weapons for Xiangling include Skyward Spine, Favonius Lance, and Prototype Starglitter. If you feel that you have enough energy recharge on her, more offensive Sub-DPS options would be Deathmatch, Blackcliff, or Primordial Jade-Winged Spear. **[Back to table**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iXrwYLstfwGA98YXDH7X8MO1F7PMjpKldLmRiRST6Xk/edit#bookmark=id.94lfurglszcd)
Support, Shielder B (C0) - A (C4)
****
Positives
Xinyan has a built in physical DMG boost (15% to shielded characters) on her A2, as well as a physical RES shred (15% to enemies hit by E) with C4, making her excellent against tanky bosses. This makes Xinyan a potent support to boost Razor’s physical damage. Her ability to shield also synergizes well with Razor’s playstyle and enables him to keep Serpent Spine stacks up if using the weapon, and her shield can cleanse debuffs. In addition, she can do high burst damage on her Burst if well-invested with Physical DMG artifacts.
Negatives
Xinyan’s skill cooldown is very high (18s) and her shield is rather frail. As her lvl 3 shield emits continuous Pyro DMG, she may trigger Overloads or even Melts when used alongside Razor and his Cryo supports, potentially interfering with Superconduct. Without C4, Xinyan has no access to physical RES shred. She is not a good battery due to high skill cd, and the physical portion of her Burst (the majority of its damage share) has a small radius. There may be diminishing returns of stacking physical bonuses with Xinyan as a Razor support, since Razor tends to stack them by default.
Constellations:
Xinyan has two solid constellations in C2 and C4. C2 allows her Burst to always crit and grant a level 3 shield, which increases her utility and Sub-DPS potential as you can invest into crit damage while forgoing crit. Her C4 allows her skill’s initial hit to debuff the enemy's physical RES by 15% for 12s, which is great against enemies with higher physical RES like ruin guards. C6 is not useful for Xinyan as a Razor support, as it only boosts her charged attack.
Artifacts:
Xinyan’s artifact choices are fairly flexible. She can run 4pc Noblesse as support or 2pc Bloodstained/2pc Noblesse as Sub-DPS provided another unit on your team is running Noblesse for Razor. If aiming for a shield build (not recommended since her shield scaling is mediocre), 2pc Guardians/2pc Noblesse can be viable. Exile and Scholar are also decent sets to run if your Xinyan is lacking energy recharge.
Weapons:
Sacrificial Greatsword synergizes extremely well with Xinyan as it grants her a reset of her high cooldown skill and more energy recharge to spam her ult. Snow-Tombed Starsilver is a decent weapon on Sub-DPS Xinyan to maximize her Burst’s physical damage. Other decent weapons include Favonius Greatsword, Blackcliff Slasher and Skyward Pride, although SP is more suitable for main DPSs due to its greedy passive. Back to table
CC, Sub-DPS, Support B (C0) - A (C2)
****
Positives
Although Venti wasn’t in the top 10 of the poll, we decided to include him because he is indisputably the crowd control king of Genshin Impact, and his banner may get a rerun soon causing more players to use him with Razor. Venti’s overpowered Burst offers unmatched crowd control and deals continuous Anemo damage as well as extra damage if infused with an element. Razor is able to deal damage to enemies above him in said vortex with a hold E > Q > hold E, somewhat mitigating the downsides of being a melee character with low reach. Venti can also equip 4pc Viridescent Venerer to shred enemies’ Electro RES for Razor if pursuing a more Electro-focused build.
Negatives
As touched on above, melee characters often have a hard time hitting inside of Venti’s vortex. Razor is no exception here, as his normal attacks and tap E struggle to hit inside the vortex, reducing his overall DPS.
Constellations:
Venti at C0 is all you need to spam his Burst. C2 decreases Physical RES by a respectable 12% for 10s when affected by his Elemental Skill, helping Razor to deal more physical damage. C6 can help out Razor’s Electro damage if his Burst Swirls with Electro.
Artifacts:
4pc Viridescent Venerer is excellent for Venti, boosting his Anemo and Swirl damage in his Burst. As well as this, if Swirling with Electro, any enemy caught in the vortex will have their Electro RES reduced by 40% for 10s, making Razor’s Skill and Burst deal more damage. However Venti can also deal quite a bit of damage himself alongside his CC where he uses 2pc Noblesse 2 pc/Viridescent Venerer to maximise his Burst damage. 4pc Noblesse works as well if no other Noblesse users are in the party.
Weapons:
Venti has quite a bit of options for weapons. He has quite a large variety of options to choose from whether it be pure damage, utility, or both. First and foremost, his best options are undoubtedly Skyward Harp and Amos Bow for pure damage. For 4* weapons, you want to aim to upgrade a Stringless or a Favonius Warbow if unavailable. Stringless being accessible through the gacha is one of Venti’s strongest weapons due to the entire weapon benefitting Venti’s playstyle. First, it provides Elemental Mastery, and given how much Venti procs swirl, the stat is well abused. Secondly, the effect that Stringless provides can work off field, heavily boosting Venti’s damage. However if that option is unavailable to you, Favonius Warbow is a F2P option unlocked through the Dvalin story quest which is also fine to use as it provides an excessive amount of energy to Venti letting the player spam his burst much more often. Back to table
Support, Shielder, CC S (C0) - S+ (C2)
****
Positives
Zhongli as of 1.3 is one of the best characters to support any DPS, but specifically for Razor's case it is quite interesting as his shield shreds both Physical and Elemental Resistance by 20%, meaning Razor as a mixed damage dealer gains huge benefit when shielded by Zhongli. Zhongli provides the beefiest shield for Razor out of all supports, letting him play very aggressively while also shredding resistance for Razor and off field supports such as Xingqiu or Fischl. His Burst is also a good crowd control for Razor as it petrifies enemies allowing Razor to land a few hits without retaliation. In addition to that, Zhongli makes Razor’s Electro damage potential quite good as shredding 20% Electro res will often make an enemy have around -5% Electro res (assuming 10% res), enabling Razor to deal somewhat decent Electro damage even when running a standard physical build (shield res shred also stacks with Superconduct).
Negatives
Zhongli has longer cast times and can take field time off Razor, as his hold E and Burst both have long casting animations. His pillar also has inconsistent energy regen, forcing you to rely on another battery or Razor himself to reach optimal Burst uptime. In addition, Zhongli often has to compete with other high-valued supports in a Razor comp. With a Razor/Xingqiu/Fischl core (strongest Sub-DPS setup), players will have to choose between Superconduct/healing or RES shred/shielding, meaning Zhongli sometimes may not be optimal given the opportunity cost of losing a Cryo healer or more off-field damage.
Constellations:
In general, Zhongli’s constellations are quite good for Razor, especially C2, C4 and C6. C2 reduces the field time required for Zhongli by letting him grant a shield upon casting Burst (effectively increasing Razor’s field time), C4 gives his Burst longer CC duration and a larger AOE, and C6 allows you to forgo running a healer since Zhongli can cover that niche now.
Artifacts:
For the artifact set as Zhongli support, you would ideally want 4pc Noblesse for team buff or 2 Noblesse/2 Petra for more meteor damage. Overall, 4pc Noblesse would be the best for most teams (assuming you are lacking a support with 4pc Noblesse equipped) as the 20% attack buff is good for boosting team damage for off field supports like Fischl/Xingqiu.
Weapons:
For Zhongli’s weapons, Favonius Lance is recommended to provide energy as he can suffer from ER issues, not to mention it increases his team battery potential. Skyward Spine can also be good, trading some energy regen capabilities for more damage. If you don’t have either, Prototype Starglitter is not a bad option. While ER and energy regen is important for Zhongli, provided that he is used with Razor specifically, Zhongli will likely not be using his meteor off of cooldown due to how Razor often takes the field time. It is more realistic to use Zhongli’s meteor every 15-20s even if he has it ready before then. As such, weapons like Spear of Homa, Deathmatch, Blackcliff and even Primordial Jade Winged-Spear may be preferable for a Sub-DPS Zhongli. Black Tassel is decent for a tank-only build. **[Back to table**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iXrwYLstfwGA98YXDH7X8MO1F7PMjpKldLmRiRST6Xk/edit#bookmark=id.94lfurglszcd)
Sub-DPS, Support, Shielder A+ (C0) - S (C6)
****
Positives
Albedo’s E is one of the best Sub-DPS skills in the game. With a 4 second cooldown, he places down an elevator platform that lasts for 30 seconds and generates a Transient Blossom on hit every 2 seconds that deals Geo Damage. Importantly, this Geo Damage has a weak elemental application, meaning that it can react with Electro or Cryo to Crystallize without fully removing the status, not getting in the way of Superconduct. This skill adds two things to Razor’s kit with essentially 100% uptime: additional damage within his combos, as well as a height change that forces certain attack patterns. For instance, Shield Mitachurls always switch to a ranged attack when on Albedo’s elevator, and Ruin Hunters will enter their long-range missile phase to be easily stunned by a bow character. Albedo’s Q is also a handy Sub-DPS Burst, with good damage scaling and additional damage if done within the E field.
Negatives
Albedo does not bring anything really unique to Razor as a Sub-DPS support, and can be dropped in favor of other characters. For instance, Fischl as a Sub-DPS brings Electro Resonance to assist in Q uptime, while Xingqiu gives better CC by abusing Electro-Charged. Albedo is never a bad pick in any teams, and is an overall solid pick for Razor, but does not particularly shine as a support outside of increased DPS, Geo Resonance, and the occasional shield.
Constellations:
Albedo’s C1 and C2 both assist only Albedo as a Sub-DPS with his Q, regenerating energy and increasing Q damage. This can be useful, but is not really necessary for supporting Razor. C4 increases Plunging DMG by 30%, which is fun and a pretty significant buff but still rather gimmicky. C6 gives a 17% DMG buff to any Crystallize-shielded characters within the E, which is handy for damage, but is somewhat offset by Crystallize flimsiness and Razor’s propensity to knock enemies around.
Artifacts:
Albedo pretty much requires at least a 2pc Petra set, with the other 2-piece varying depending on what you have and the specific purpose he wants. Building entirely around E may want a 2pc Defenders set, while a more general Sub-DPS build will want 2pc Noblesse to match the Petra set.
Weapons:
For Sub-DPS purposes, Albedo requires very little investment to abuse Harbinger of Dawn, a 3 star sword with crit damage substat and a nifty crit-enhancing ability that works even when Albedo isn’t on the field. Primordial Jade Cutter and Festering Desire are also strong Sub-DPS options, but he is usually better off with Harbinger for easy and strong off-field damage. **[Back to table**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iXrwYLstfwGA98YXDH7X8MO1F7PMjpKldLmRiRST6Xk/edit#bookmark=id.94lfurglszcd)
Razor is fairly flexible regarding team resonance, as he doesn’t require Electro Resonance to maintain high Burst uptime. As a result, you may opt for a different element’s resonance:
Pyro Resonance: ATK +25%. A nice damage boost for Razor, although he will have to deal with not just one but two Pyro units triggering Overload.
Cryo Resonance: CRIT +15% against Cryo-afflicted/Frozen enemies. Needs a fast Cryo applicator like Kaeya/Ganyu to keep up with Razor’s Electro application in ult.
Hydro Resonance: Increases incoming healing by 30%. Very useless.
Electro Resonance: Superconduct, Overloaded, and Electro-Charged have a 100% chance to generate an Electro Elemental Particle (5s CD). Not a bad resonance for Razor if aiming for 100% Burst uptime against any number of enemies.
Anemo Resonance: Decreases stamina consumption by 15%, increases movement speed by 10%, shortens skill CD by 5%. Requires running double Anemo with Razor which is suboptimal compared to other options.
Geo Resonance: Increases shield strength by 15%, increases damage dealt by 15% for shielded characters and their damage to enemies decrease Geo RES by 20% for 15s. Very good resonance as of 1.3, with Zhongli being the best contender for this setup as his shield has 100% uptime and provides a RES shred of its own.
Rainbow Resonance: Elemental RES and Physical RES +15%. Unlike many other DPSs, Razor doesn’t strongly benefit from having a support of the same element for battery or two supports from a different element to trigger reactions, meaning he can work just fine with no particular resonance. Having 4 different elements in a team can be good as it allows up to 6 total elemental reactions and gives you more elements to counter shields.
As Electro reactions such as Overloaded, Superconduct, Electro-Charged and Electro Swirl are transformative and not amplifying, they only scale with level and elemental mastery and cannot crit, making them sub-optimal for raw damage output. In addition, investment in EM is not recommended due to these reactions not being able to scale from skill damage. However, Electro reactions come with additional utility which can make them situationally strong.
****
Character Level
1
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Base Damage
34
68
161
273
415
647
981
1440
1893
2406
Highest base damage of Electro reactions but the most inconvenient for Razor. Deals AoE Pyro damage and creates an explosion that knocks enemies (except heavy bosses like fatui) back. Can be used to break Geo shields.
Razor may Overload himself if he is hit by Pyro during his Burst (as his Burst applies the Electro element to himself), so dodge Pyro missiles to avoid being knocked back mid-ult
Typical enablers for Overload: Bennett, Xinyan, Xiangling
****
Character Level
1
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Base Damage
9
17
40
68
104
162
245
360
473
601
Lowest base damage of Electro reactions, but by far the most useful for Razor due to its 40% Physical RES shred on all affected enemies that lasts for a lengthy 12s. Note that Physical RES shred gets halved when enemies have negative RES. Here is a list of typical enemy resistance values in the game currently.
E.g. Superconduct against treasure hoarder with -20% Phys RES results in -40% Phys RES (-20% - 20%)
E.g. Superconduct against ruin guard with 70% Phys RES results in 30% Phys RES (70% - 40%)
Razor may Superconduct himself if he is hit by Cryo during his Burst, but the interaction also applies Superconduct to enemies nearby, making it a double-edged sword
Typical enablers for Superconduct: Diona, Kaeya, Qiqi
****
Character Level
1
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Base Damage
21
41
97
164
249
388
589
864
1136
1443
Electro-Charged is a decent damaging reaction for Razor, as it does Electro reaction damage immediately and applies an Electro DoT effect to wet enemies nearby (1s per tick of EC usually). Electro-Charge is also useful for staggering enemies. Note that Electro-Charged is inconsistent depending on the trigger character.
As long as the 2 elemental gauges involved are constantly refreshed (e.g. Razor + Xingqiu with both Bursts active), Electro-Charge can be applied indefinitely
Electro-Charge allows both Electro and Hydro to co-exist on an enemy, meaning other reactions (e.g. Superconduct and Freeze) may be simultaneously applied to an Electro-Charged enemy (see Skill Gauges for a demonstration)
Typical enablers for Electro-Charge: Xingqiu, Barbara
****
Character Level
1
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Base Damage
10
20
48
82
124
194
294
432
568
722
Electro-Swirl, like other Swirl effects, are triggered by an Anemo user to spread the current element to nearby enemies, allowing for more reaction potential. Swirl deals damage based on the Anemo character’s level and EM.
As Razor usually isn’t played in reaction comps and wants as much field time as possible, it is not recommended for him to be played with an Anemo character to trigger Swirls with maybe the exception of Venti, who can apply a long off-field Anemo Burst (but it may pull enemies too high for Razor’s auto attacks).
If running Hybrid or Electro Razor team, Electro-Swirl may gain more value as the Anemo character can equip VV to shred enemies’ Electro RES by 40%.
Typical enablers for Electro-Swirl: Venti
****
Character Level
1
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Base Damage
26
51
121
204
311
485
736
1080
1420
1804
Shattered is not a result of an Electro reaction - rather, it can be triggered by Razor’s claymore against Frozen enemies (Cryo + Hydro) to deal extra Physical damage. Shattered breaks the Frozen status and deals damage based on Razor’s level and EM.
Frozen enemies will have Cryo persisting normally for a while, allowing for easy reapplications of Frozen + Shatter with a Hydro aura character
Typical enablers for Shatter: Kaeya + Xingqiu (fast elemental applicators)
Below we have shared some example Razor team compositions that are very popular and/or strong in various situations. Keep in mind that Razor compositions generally only require the convenient Razor and Cryo user; other than that, Razor can work with just about any support, although some synergize better with him than others.
Note: This team can have Qiqi instead of Diona, trading some utility for better healing.
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Pros
Extremely high single target off-field damage with Fischl and Xingqiu; Xingqiu allows for consistent Electro-reactions that capitalize on Fischl’s A4 Lightning Smite talent.
Even with sporadic freezing, Superconduct can still be triggered due to the Cryo aura on frozen enemies.
As Diona’s healing may suffer due to her high energy cost, this can be offsetted somewhat by Xingqiu’s rain swords which not only reduce the damage that Razor takes, but also heals him if he takes damage. In addition to that, Xingqiu’s rain sword damage reduction allows Diona shield to tank more damage for Razor.
Electro resonance batteries the whole team, allowing Xingqiu and Diona to use their high impact ults more often.
Xingqiu’s Burst does not snapshot (can receives buffs mid-ult)
Cons
This team lacks AoE potential as Razor, Fischl and Xingqiu all lack consistent AoE unless highly invested.
Fischl and Xingqiu, as sub-carries, both require hefty investment in order to maximize their raw damage potential.
Fischl and Xingqiu both benefit heavily from their constellations, making them most effective at high constellation levels (huge power spike in Fischl’s C6 and Xingqiu’sC1,C2, and C6).
Fischl’s skill snapshots (need to reposition Oz if buff is applied after its initial summon)
Overall can be quite a high investment team.
Demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHwHBY3Jf8k&feature=youtu.be
Generally the team composition for a Geo Resonance Razor team is Razor + Zhongli + Geo + Flex, although the last slot can be flexed. Alternatively, you could add Fischl instead of Albedo here who also benefits from the 20% universal RES shred from Zhongli’s shield as a Sub-DPS.
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Pros
Extremely tanky team allowing for high shield uptime and great crowd control with Zhongli plus both off-field single target and AoE damage with Xingqiu and Albedo respectively.
Access to Geo resonance, increasing shield strength by 15% and giving the whole team 15% DMG when shielded as well as 20% Geo RES reduction useful for Sub-DPS Albedo and Zhongli.
20% universal RES shred from Zhongli’s hold E benefits the whole team’s damage output.
Loss of Superconduct isn’t necessarily a DPS loss as Zhongli’s RES shred can compensate and increase team damage overall, allowing for the inclusion of high off-field DPS units such as Xingqiu and Albedo.
Not using a healer isn’t an issue with Zhongli’s shield and Xingqiu’s DMG reduction as well as healing from rainswords. The extra DMG reduction from Xingqiu can also counteract Serpent Spine Razor’s increased damage taken, enabling Zhongli’s shield to be more effective.
Albedo is very cheap to build with HoD, requiring less investment for this team to be effective.
Cons
Although this team’s damage ceiling is very high as well as the playstyle being comfortable, if Zhongli’s shield is underinvested, it could potentially lead to the shield being useless, especially against abyss mobs meaning that you would have to replace either Xingqiu or Albedo for a healer.
This team requires two limited back-to-back 5* characters, making it literally expensive.
If you want to play a quick swap playstyle with Zhongli and Albedo, using Razor here is not needed, you are better off using another team to utilise the effectiveness of the two. (Assuming both of their bursts are invested in).
Demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmr7ZtaszLM
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Pros
Offers a large range of support utility for Razor, including buffs, debuffs, shields, quick Cryo application and sizable ATK from Pyro Resonance.
Razor will do an absurd amount of damage by himself given the correct setup is done due to Pryo Resonance, ATK buff from Bennett’s Burst and Physical DMG bonus and RES reduction from Xinyan E (Physical RES reduction locked behind C4).
Great for most bosses as Overloaded deals good damage, breaks shields and provides valuable CC in certain scenarios (e.g. 11-2).
Great for YouTube damage showcases...
Cons
Two Pyro units interfere heavily with Superconduct, requiring extra micromanagement to work around the additional Pyro aura.
Transitioning immediately from Bennett’s Burst into Razor’s burst or tap/hold E Overloads enemies, knocking them out of Bennett’s AoE and rendering it useless. Overload will consistently occur as Bennett’s cleanse clashes with Razor’s self cleanse, which may be detrimental.
Xinyan practically requires C2 (100% physical damage crit on burst plus level 3 shield on cast) and ideally C4 (E reduces enemy physical RES by 15% for 12 seconds) in order for this composition to be effective as those two constellations heavily gate her support potential for Razor.
Razor’s basic rotation applies Electro while Xinyan constantly applies Pyro with her level 3 shield, further accentuating the Overload issue.
This comp sacrifices Sub-DPS damage to buff Razor’s damage, unless Kaeya/Xinyan is heavily invested.
Demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kewm8XLAJRI
According to Araetha#9163 who has calculated Razor’s Physical to Electro ratios based on practical combos in the Razor Sheet (raw percentage tab), the Phys:Elec ratio of C0 Razor at talents 6/6/6 (including ascension bonus) is about 60:40, assuming a combo where tap Es are used to improve Burst uptime.
This is a smaller gap compared to the 70:30 or higher Phys:Elec ratio people normally expect with Razor, and it doesn’t stop there. As mentioned at the beginning of the guide, higher constellations and talent levels dramatically improve Razor’s hybrid damage potential. If we change the values of Razor’s talents in the sheet to 10/13/13 (assuming a maxed C6 Razor), we can see that the ratio is further skewed to 52:48 - almost equal Physical to Electro output in a typical Burst rotation.
Given these findings, investing into Hybrid Razor as an endgame option is actually quite viable. Some weapons also enable the Hybrid Razor build exceptionally well, namely Serpent Spine.
ATK% Cup with Serpent Spine
From Araetha’s calculations, it was also discovered that at higher constellations, using an ATK% cup with Serpent Spine may be better than a Physical DMG% cup (assuming 4Glad and similar substats). This is due to the relatively lower base attack of SS (510 at lvl 90 compared to 565 for Archaic) and diminishing returns of investing too much into DMG% (R1 SS already grants 30% DMG and higher refinements increase this DMG% even further). Combined, these two factors make ATK% a more attractive option on the goblet for SS users.
The caveat is that if you run multiple sources of ATK boosts in your team (e.g. double Pyro, Bennett, 4pc Noblesse, Thrilling Tales), Phys Cup may still be better to prevent diminishing returns of ATK. This margin widens as refinement on SS is increased, requiring more ATK bonuses from substats/external buffs for a Phys cup to beat ATK cup. Using an ATK cup is also good for other reasons, as ATK% mainstat goblet is statistically more likely to drop than Phys% mainstat goblet, giving you more chances to use a cup with good substats (source: artifact distribution).
Weapons: Serpent Spine
Artifacts: 4pc Gladiators, 2pc Gladiator/2pc Bloodstained, 4pc Thundersoothers, etc.
Talents priority: AA, E post-lvl 10 Q (due to better scaling) or earlier if preferring a more skill-spam heavy playstyle
Note: Hybrid Razor is more of a playstyle than a build. Hybrid Razor’s key trait is its capability to use tap E/hold E far as damage tools rather than just energy recharge tools. In practice, any weapon/artifact combination can work with Hybrid Razor as long as both Physical and Electro values are invested. For example, Wolf’s Gravestone with a Physical% cup can still run with Hybrid playstyle since WGS buffs ATK% massively, which benefits both Physical and Electro damage. Hybrid Razor would prefer to weave more skills between autos compared with Physical Razor, allowing it to potentially function in quickswap.
Given that Razor’s Phys:Electro ratio from talents could reach 51.7:48.3, it demonstrates that Electro Razor can actually be put to practice. However, this section is WIP as this was a relatively new discovery, so our theorycrafters need time to acquire the right artifacts for comparison with Physical builds. We will update this as new data is tested and approved.
Weapons: Serpent Spine, Wolf’s Gravestone
Artifacts: 4pc Thundersoothers, 2pc Thundering Fury/Gladiators, 4pc Thundering Fury
Talents priority: AA, E, Q
Electro% Cup with Wolf’s Gravestone/Serpent Spine/Rainslasher (C4+)
Why is Razor capable of being an enabler post C4?
C4 makes tap E shreds DEF by 15%, making him one of the only characters capable of defense shredding in the game (alongside Klee C2 and Lisa A4)
C6 adds 100% ATK on-hit Electro only every 10s, which is unsuitable for phys main DPS but good for quickswap (spam AA + tap E for burst damage)
One of the lowest skill cds in the game (tap E) that applies a 2U aura, allowing other characters with 1U to trigger multiple reactions consistently
A very good battery due to short skill cds (tap E generates 3 particles with 5s cd, hold E generates 4 particles with 8s cd) - beware that his ult disables energy regen from skill so swap away from Razor after ulting if intent on generating particles
Electro Resonance complements enabler playstyle well, improving his battery potential and allowing him to spam Bursts on cooldown (can equip 4Nob to boost team damage)
Huge burst damage with AA > tap E > Q > hold E, capable of delivering AoE nukes with no reactions involved (assuming high investment)
This is by no means a ‘meta’ build, but could be a fun alternative if you feel like swapping to a different main DPS but still want to use Razor in another role.
Weapons: Serpent Spine, Wolf’s Gravestone, Rainslasher (only with fast Electro applicator e.g. Fischl), Sacrificial Greatsword
Artifacts: 2pc Thundering Fury/Gladiators, 4pc Thundersoothers, 4pc Noblesse
Talents priority: E, Q, AA
For more info on best weapons and teamcomps for Enabler Razor (and Main DPS Razor), please check the Razor tab in this character builds spreadsheet.
A relatively advanced tech from the CN community termed dragonstrike allows the user to plunge against enemies using hitlag to propel the character up after casting an attack or skill. Dragonstrike is different from footstooling, which relies on enemy collision for plunge. Rather, dragonstrike relies on hitlag during an attack on an enemy, which essentially ‘freezes’ time and makes it easier for the user to gain momentum for a jump-plunge combo. Claymores like Razor can take advantage of dragonstrike the easiest due to claymores having the highest hitlag of all the weapons. Ping is irrelevant with dragonstrike, as testers with over 200 ping have been able to pull off the tech consistently.
Nevertheless, the timing has to be impeccable and movement speed boosts are needed. Below are demonstrations from William355#3092 and CN testers showcasing how to plunge against a large target with Razor using both footstooling (collision-based) and dragonstrike (hitlag-based) for comparison. The combo used in both cases is AA/E > dash > jump > plunge. It is best to dash jump when your claymore makes contact with the enemy, as that is when the collision/hitlag happens.
Footstooling with Diona
Footstooling with double anemo
Dragonstrike with double anemo
Dragonstrike with no MS boost (tap E)
With dragonstrike, the user typically needs movement speed boosts (~10%) to gain momentum for a jump (e.g Diona’s shield or Anemo Resonance). The exception is with tap E, as it seems to grant Razor enough momentum to plunge even without extra movement speed. Another thing to note is that the longer the hitlag (e.g. hitting shields), the easier it is to plunge. Interestingly for this technique, 2pc Gladiator/2pc Bloodstained is better than 4pc Gladiator due to 4pc Glad not boosting plunge attacks unlike 2pc Bloodstained (+25% Phys DMG).
From Araetha#9163: Dragonstrike is a new concept and rough maths shows that plunging outside Q every time we E is a significant DPS increase. The math becomes complicated during Q because Dragonstrike loses damage from soul companion. We haven't done the mv/s calculation extensively, but it seems that it's not worth using during Q due to the loss of hit lag (we want it to "extend" our Q) and the soul companion damage (also Glad4 set discourages you from using the trick).
More sources: Tenten's breakdown of Dragonstrike
If you have read this far, we applaud your dedication and perseverance. We hope that this guide was able to help you decide how to build your Razor and how to maximize his potential at different stages of the game. If you have any questions, suggestions or concerns, we welcome you to join our discord and send them in the #guide-suggestions channel. Thank you.
Initial release date: 02/15/2021
Last updated: 03/16/2021
Sources: Genshin Impact wiki, various theorycrafting resources, discord, in-game data
Writers: LeafOnTheWind#9931, Ender#1359, arashi#2449
Contributors: Shifu02#7738, Araetha#9163, shdwbld#8103, Wolfen7#5902, William355#3092, jerf#0339, muse#0188, Azzurala#6257, HardgoreAlice#8976, Castguy#3544, AngaFundarge#4044, EggsD#9603
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